I've been walking by a City of Ottawa Zoning By-law Amendment Proposal notice sign on my way to work for the past week. I took some pics with my cellphone today I can post later. Right now the lot features a decrepit 3-storey apartment building with an adjacent parking lot.

An application has been submitted to rezone the property to allow for an increase in building height and density. The proposed construction is a 16-storey, 136 unit condominium building.

This is probably another claridge project since the claridge shack has been moved here a couple months ago. I agree it's gonna be pretty hard to get the 16 floors by diane holmes. Would rather see something of this scale go up on the huge parking lot at Somerset and Oconnor.

I like to call that particular design feature "Claridge deco" for some reason. With two towers x 25 floors of it on Rideau plus Somerset Gardens I think we've had our fill of aqua in this city!

I would much rather see something like this building on Bloor Street in Toronto. I much prefer the darker glass and I think it would do a better job of integrating with the gremlins who live in Centretown.

This is probably another claridge project since the claridge shack has been moved here a couple months ago. I agree it's gonna be pretty hard to get the 16 floors by diane holmes. Would rather see something of this scale go up on the huge parking lot at Somerset and Oconnor.

That's another lot vastly in need of development. I can understand surface lots on Lisgar or Gloucester Streets, but to have an empty lot in that area of Somerset is really surprising. It is such a nice street with plenty of restaurants and services and a stones throw away from Bank. They couldn't do anything tall there since the whole street is Victorian homes and a 3-storey mixed-use building, but I'm sure someone could come up with a good idea for an infill development. This is wishfull thinking, but I would love to see something like this (called Montreux) in Vancouver:

It's a bit taller than surrounding buildings on Somerset, but the three-storey brick facade on the lower part keep a consistent streetwall; kind of like how 90 George's podium keeps things consistent despite the tower being 3x taller than anything around.

The land parcel currently contains a surface parking lot with approximately 28 spaces, according to a site plan proposal summary prepared by the city. The subject property also contains a three-storey apartment building at 293 Lisgar St.

The property must also be rezoned to increase the height and density to accommodate the 18 storeys, according to the city.

City planning staff hope to reach a decision on the application by June 30.

Claridge has added an additional two storeys to its proposal for a condominium at 287 Lisgar St., bringing the height to 18 storeys, or approximately 57 metres. This is the same developer behind the two residential towers that were to be part of Ottawa's bid for the National Portrait Gallery. City council had agreed to allow Claridge to build condominium towers of 20 and 24 floors with the portrait gallery or other public use facility at the base. The developer appealed the height restrictions to the Ontario Municipal Board even before the Conservative government cancelled the Portrait Gallery competition and ultimately won its case to build its towers to a height of 27 storeys around Christmas.

It should be interesting to watch the community reaction - and especially that of the local councillor for the area, Diane Holmes - to the latest Lisgar proposal, especially since some thought Claridge would have trouble convincing the city to allow it to build 16 storeys. Adjacent to the property is an 11-storey government building to the northeast at O'Connor and Nepean streets. Other surrounding buildings include the Dominion-Chalmers United Church and low-rise apartments that range from two to four storeys, according to a site plan proposal summary prepared by the city.

I've heard the suggestion that Claridge is proposing 18 storeys so it can compromise with the city to build 16 storeys, as originally planned, without the expense of going to the OMB. It is an interesting theory, but I haven't come across any evidence to back it up.

However, others have previously observed that the unpredictable outcomes of zoning amendment proposals to increase density has had an effect on land values, especially as developers push for, and receive, one-off permissions from council or the OMB to build taller buildings than the rules allow.

"There is the expectation that you can get greater density than the existing zoning allows, and the (market) for land recognizes that. The price of that land is now approaching a level where you can't do a project that meets the existing zoning requirements," ReDevelopment Group owner Eric Kirsipuu told me last year.

Those damn developers...always wanting to build high density housing in the middle of the City......don't they know that Clive and I have an obligation to our residents to protect them from high density housing, which obviously belongs somewhere other than Centretown.

Those damn developers...always wanting to build high density housing in the middle of the City......don't they know that Clive and I have an obligation to our residents to protect them from high density housing, which obviously belongs somewhere other than Centretown.

Yeah, Diane, well said. Like Manotick, for instance. That's where high rises belong. Sincerely, Clive.